The main purpose of network cabling is to allow user access to network resources. In large corporate offices the cabling requirements are usually already taken care of upon moving in, as part of the facility management services. This includes extending RJ45 sockets to each office and desk so that every employee has a dedicated Ethernet port to connect to. There might even be a cabling engineer on the staff who is certified in structured wiring and electrical issues.
In a small office environment, there are no dedicated cabling resources, so cabling services might be contracted to a third party or users might even be connecting directly into the switch without any kind of structured cabling approach (this scenario should be avoided).
In a home office environment, the cabling requirements are even lower because there is no need for structured cabling and all the devices are usually in the same room. Cat 5 or Cat 6 cables are directly connected to the home router/switch, which is a short distance from the user’s workstation, so there is no need for advanced cabling techniques (like patch panels or punch downs). In this situation all the devices on the network are also accessible by other users in that home, so the security risks should be properly analyzed and security measures must be considered to avoid accidental data loss or corruption.
Wireless is now becoming popular in SOHO networks because it doesn’t require a lot of wires. Wireless technologies offer lower bandwidth but this may be enough for a small number of users. Just remember to implement strong security features because wireless networks are more vulnerable than wired networks. These security policies are usually defined by the IT department.
In a SOHO environment, all the devices tend to be in one room and very few changes occur, so the cabling process is relatively straightforward. On the other hand, in a large enterprise environment a lot of changes can happen when adding and moving machines on the network. Because these changes are so frequent, you must ensure that full availability is offered to network users and services.